Addis Ababa, Downtown Silver Spring

[rkduggins]

The Neophyte Files. Report: Addis Ababa, Silver Spring, MD

When you enter Addis Ababa you're immediately embraced by the scent of mingled spices. Our group had a table upstairs in the covered patio area. Midweek the restaurant is not crowded, and the wait staff was immediately attentive.

The bottle of red we ordered (bear with me; I came in late and never got a good look at the bottle!) was served too warm, but was definitely drinkable as it cooled to room temperature. A brief negotiation over seafood/no seafood, quantity and variety of greens and meat preparation ended with orders of beyaynetu, doro wat, zilzil tibs, special tibs, siksikoch and ybeg wat. The staff prepared two trays with equal amounts of all dishes without our having to ask. I felt that was a thoughtful touch. The waitress was also careful to point out the milder items that would be palatable to children on the dish closest to Peanut, which I also thought was nice.

Conversation flowed easily, and the group was very welcoming. The evening ended with coffee and baklava that was perhaps too long in the pastry case. The total plus tip came out to $17 per person. Everyone offered a positive assessment, several said that they would return. Overall a nice introduction to the Don Rockwell crew for this newcomer.

Thanks for a fun meal, everyone!

Rachel

[Barbara]

Welcome to our merry group, Rachel. It looks like you had the great good luck of joining the JPWs for dinner. Isn't Peanut a joy? Not to mention her 'rents.

[Heather]

The food was solid. Not as good as the places downtown, but solid enough to be one of our go-to neighborhood places. I was sorry we didn't order kitfo. The yebeg wat was my favorite of the selections.

The company was very good.

ETA: We will be sitting downstairs next time - much more attractive than up. Although I can see the roof being a cool place to sit and drink some beer when it's warm outside.

[JPW]

It was nice to meet you Rachel. The waitresses were great and were very nice in playing with Peanut. Like Heather, I think the yebeg wat was my favorite, but everything was pretty good. That upstairs deck is a great place to sit in the summer, especially if there is a breeze blowing. Ethiopian beer reminds me of Iron City. A solid choice for the Monkey County residents among us.

[dinwiddie]

Great to hear. My wife and I love Ethiopian food, but seldom want to take the time to go downtown after a hard day at work. We've eaten a couple of times at the other Ethiopian restaurant in SS but want to try something else.

[Gubeen]

I highly recommend the kitfo. It has a nice mingling of corriande, ginger and berbere and isn't too buttery. It is my favorite dish at AA.

[dinwiddie]

Whenever we don't want to drive all the way downtown to get Ethiopian food, Addis Ababa is our "go to" place for Ethiopian, but last Tuesday when my son and I ate there we ordered two of the combination platters and an order of Gored Gored. When the food came we noticed that the gored gored was cooked well done. When we asked why (after all it is described as "chunks of raw fresh beef seasoned with special butter, mitmita, pepper") the waitress was shocked that we actually wanted the beef to be raw. She immediately went and got us a serving of it made properly but I was a bit disappointed that she had just assumed that since we were a couple of "white American guys" that we would want it cooked.

I must say however, that the meal was excellent. We had also ordered the Chista’s special (Kitfo, yebeg tibs, dulet, doro fitifit, tomato, and gomen) and the Yasa Tibs (fish fried perfectly) with a five vegetable dishes. (We ordered Tikil Gomen, Yatakilt Wat, Mesir Wat, Gomen, and Timatim Salata) The whole meal, with two orders of iced tea, tax and tip cost about $42. We sat upstairs where the room is open sided as it was a very nice evening and there was just enough of a light breeze to make it very comfortable.

I still enthusiastically recommend Addis Ababa to anyone who wants Ethiopian food in Maryland, but I also recommend that they make sure the server understands that they want "Ethiopian food."

[susanmab]

We're huge fans of Ethiopian food and have tried many different restaurants in the area.

When Addis Ababa was on 18th, it was our favorite. Hands down. We've been to the Silver Spring location, but we find it doesn't really measure up. Since the Adams Morgan location closed, our new favorite is Dukem on U.

Does anyone know if Meaza on Columbia Pike will be reopening anywhere? They had the best injera.

(and do I have to say something silly like "long time lurker first time poster" here? I finally registered a little while ago so I could use the search but I've been reading for a while).

[soapy]

I went there last night, it was the first time I'd ever had Ethopian food. We had Duro Wat, Zizil Tibs and the veggie sampler of Yatakilt Wat, Mesir Wat , Kik Alich, Gomen, Timatim Salata. Our server was very nice and I couldn't tell if she had the cooks dumb the flavors down becuase we're americans. In any case the food was delicious and I look foward to trying more Ethopian food in the future.

[porcupine]

Gubeen and I had a serious hankering for kitfo, so we went to Addis Ababa in Silver Spring, which deserves more attention than it gets; it might not be as good as the downtown joints, but it is very good nonetheless, and has the virtue of being easy to get into on a whim.

Anyway, the ordering went something like this:

Waitress: May I take your order?

Gubeen and me, simultaneously, with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm: Kitfo!

W (writing): kitfo...well done?

G: no, raw

me: utterly raw

G: uncooked

W: (raises eyebrows)

G: Ethiopian style

me: seriously

The kitfo we got was slightly cooked and slightly warm. Still delicious and the gomen and lentil dishes hit the spot, too. But next time, said Gubeen, "I'm sending it back" if it isn't what we ordered. Seriously.

I haven't experienced this problem as often as I've read about it - you know, the one where an ethnic restaurant doesn't take your request for authentic (raw, spicy, offal, wierd, whatever) seriously. Damned annoying. Probably doesn't help to be in a party of two white woman in a place otherwise full of expats (and one Indian family). But also not important enough to make a whine-to-Tom-Sietsema-during-his-chat, my-evening-was-ruined-and-they-didn't-even-offer-to-comp-me, my-life-is-at-an-end, I'm-a-spoiled-American-used-to-getting-my-way type of complaint, which is even more annoying than getting perfectly delicious kitfo, even if it isn't exactly what you ordered.

[DanielK]

Like others here, Addis Ababa is our go-to Ethiopian when we want to stay in the burbs, rather than heading downtown.

Some of the dishes seem a bit muted - the flavors not as vibrant as Queen Makeda or Etete. The wats are not as spicy, and the injera, while posessing the typical sponginess, does not seem as sour. Nonetheless, the food remains tasty, the service is as indifferent as the places downtown, and the Harar remains cold (and crappy).

Dinner last week (my dining companions said "no raw, no spicy", so no wat and no kitfo) consisted of Doro Alicha, Siksiloch, and a vegetarian platter. The alicha had a good curry flavor, but the chicken needed more time to simmer - you had to work to get it off the bone. I really liked the Siksilosh, tender lamb and peppery enough to make up for the lack of wat on the plate. Like many Ethiopian places, they really shine on the vegetables. The cabbage still had a little bit of a snap to it, which may not have been deliberate, but worked very well. And I can never get enough lentils, especially when prepared so well.

Dinner for 3 was a laughably cheap $35 before tax, tip, and beverages.

Again, this place will never give the best of U Street a run for the money, but it's still quite good, and a nice neighborhood diversion.

[soapy]

I continue to enjoy Addis Ababa and it was nice to know that you could go out eat there and feed 6 people 80 bucks. (and yes most of us just orderd water but on person ordered a soda, and annother a beer) the Addis Ababa specials are great for feeding a crowd, you get a huge platter with 4 different entrees on it and a a four person plate will feed 5 or more. I suspect that the Injera helps to fill you up a lot.

[xcanuck]

Went here last night for dinner. It wasn't our first time and we've generally been pleased in the past. However, last night was abysmal.

First of all, would it really be THAT hard to serve the food warm? Much of the food was bland, except for the yebeg wat which ended up having a jarring, sharp taste that I really didn't expect. It was almost as if the spices had been used "raw". Much of the yebeg was left on the plate.

I noticed that the upstairs dining area was composed by about 80% non-Ethiopians (mostly large groups with children). The only Ethiopians I saw were NOT eating - just drinking and chatting. Hrmmm......wonder what THAT says?

Next time, we'll go to Abol on Colesville Rd.

[porcupine]

Went here last night for dinner. It wasn't our first time and we've generally been pleased in the past. However, last night was abysmal.

Ouch. Hoping that was an aberration. We were there Wednesday, and the gomen, mesir wat, and yetenbi kitfo were as good as always (and the kitfo wasn't warm, which is a good thing).

[Heather]

I've been for lunch and dinner several times recently, and the food and service are about the same, i.e., decent and hit-or-miss. My issue is with the gigantic television in the downstairs dining room. It's probably OK if you're there to watch a game of some sort, but the last thing I need when trying to have a relaxing meal is CNN's Casey Anthony update in my face.